NEGATIVE STRATEGIES ON THE OCEANS TOPIC

Rich EdwardsBaylor University

2014-15 National Policy Topic

Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its non-military exploration and/or

development of the Earth’s oceans.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE OCEANS = ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER

THE GUARDIAN, Nov. 19, 2013. Retrieved Apr. 9, 2014 from Nexis. Simon Boxall, an oil spill expert from the University of Southampton, told the Guardian exploring the region was inherently dangerous: "It is inevitable you will get a spill — a dead cert. I would expect to see a major spill in the not too distant future. I would be astonished if you did not see a major spill from this." The conditions in the Arctic would vastly compound the problem, he said. "It's a completely different environment. In temperate climes, oil disperses quickly. Bacteria help [to digest the oil]. In the Arctic the oil does not break down in this way — it can take decades before it breaks down. Nature will not help us."

RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

Rosemary Ahtuagaruak, (Council Member, Alaska Inter-Tribal Council), ARCTIC VOICES: RESISTANCE AT THE TIPPING POINT, 2012, 307. We Inupiat wonder, why doesn't the oil industry drill off the coast of California? Why not near Florida? Why not off the Atlantic coast? People know there is oil over there. It would be cheaper, with a shorter distance to move it. Drilling in the Arctic Ocean is an environmental justice issue; it is a human rights issue.

OIL DRILLING PROMOTES CLIMATE CHANGE

Alex Rice Kerr, (J.D., U. Colorado School of Law), ENVIRONS: ENVIRONMENTAL LAW & POLICY JOURNAL, 2010, 72-73. In the past decades, when oil was cheap, most clean tech was prohibitively expensive. With oil prices rocketing to recent highs, however, the dynamic is changing.

PLUMMETING OIL PRICES SPARKS CONFLICT

Benjamin Alter, (Staff), THE NEW YORK TIMES, Apr. 28, 2013, SR-5. Even more alarming is the prospect of instability in Saudi Arabia. In 2011, the Saudi royal family was able to head off an Arab Spring-style revolution because of its enormous oil revenues, doling out $130 billion in benefits to pacify the country's younger and poorer inhabitants. Should lower oil prices make such patronage impossible in the future, the kingdom could face domestic unrest — making the country a far less reliable partner for America in fighting terrorism and countering Iran.

PLUMMETING OIL PRICES SPARKS CONFLICT

Benjamin Alter, (Staff), THE NEW YORK TIMES, Apr. 28, 2013, SR-5. Even more alarming is the prospect of instability in Saudi Arabia. In 2011, the Saudi royal family was able to head off an Arab Spring-style revolution because of its enormous oil revenues, doling out $130 billion in benefits to pacify the country's younger and poorer inhabitants. Should lower oil prices make such patronage impossible in the future, the kingdom could face domestic unrest — making the country a far less reliable partner for America in fighting terrorism and countering Iran.

OCEAN ENERGY DEVELOPMENT HARMS OCEAN CREATURES

Matt MacDonald, (Consultant, International Energy Agency), OFFSHORE RENEWABLE ENERGY, 2012, 124-125. Electromagnetic fields (EMFs) from operating equipment and buried, sub-sea cabling are another aspect of marine renewable energy development which is currently being researched with regard to potential impacts upon fish. Electro-sensitive species of fish (including sharks, skate and ray) hunt by detecting weak bioelectric fields emanating from their prey and following these to their source.

FEDERALISM VIOLATIONSDoug Vincent-Lang, (Acting Dir., Division of Wildlife Conservation, Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game), ALASKA'S SOVEREIGNTY IN PERIL, House Hearing, Apr. 3, 2012, 11. State government is in a good position to evaluate how proposed national marine and coastal policies will work, or not work, in different ecosystems and communities around the state. With a state as large and diverse as Alaska, it will be critically important to capture the experience and knowledge of the state in developing and implementing marine and coastal policies. We encourage that these policies be developed from the ground up, and not top down as is currently proposed.

OVERSTRETCH THE COAST GUARDElizabeth DeSombre, (Prof., Environmental Science, Wellesley College), FISH, 2011, 106-107. It is also difficult to enforce fishing rules or prohibitions in these areas. Although most MPAs are located in national waters, many of these are nevertheless quite far from shore, and it can be difficult to police them to ensure that ships are not breaking the rules. Some non-compliance may even be unintentional, as it is difficult to mark the boundaries of a protected area. These difficulties can be even more pronounced when dealing with high-seas MPAs.

OVERSTRETCH THE COAST GUARDElizabeth DeSombre, (Prof., Environmental Science, Wellesley College), FISH, 2011, 106-107. It is also difficult to enforce fishing rules or prohibitions in these areas. Although most MPAs are located in national waters, many of these are nevertheless quite far from shore, and it can be difficult to police them to ensure that ships are not breaking the rules. Some non-compliance may even be unintentional, as it is difficult to mark the boundaries of a protected area. These difficulties can be even more pronounced when dealing with high-seas MPAs.

POLITICSMidterms: An unpopular policy is adopted, causing undesirable changes in the outcome of the midterm elections.

Backlash: Some unpopular policy is adopted, causing Congress to take some undesirable action in response.

Winners win: Taking an action that will be seen as a victory for the White House builds momentum, allowing the Obama administration to harmfully achieve some other portion of its agenda, such as cutting the defense budget

U.S. HEGEMONY BAD

Adopting the plan adds to the soft power of the United States by creating the impression that the U.S. has changed its ways; this is only illusion and will result in greater likelihood of harmful U.S. meddling in world affairs, including unjustified wars in the Middle East or elsewhere.

EXPLORATION = EXPLOITATIONLeah Ceccarelli, (Prof., Communication Studies, U. Washington), ON THE FRONTIER OF SCIENCE: AN AMERICAN RHETORIC OF EXPLORATION AND EXPLOITATION, 2013, 142. Scientists, as framed through the frontiersman metaphor, have an impulse to penetrate the unknown and a temperament that is bold, aggressive, and competitive. In short, they are archetypes of hegemonic masculinity.

“MANAGING” THE ECOSYSTEM = FAILURE

Dean Bavington, (Prof., Environmental History, Nipissing U., Ontario), MANAGED ANNIHILATION: AN UNNATURAL HISTORY OF THE NEWFOUNDLAND COD COLLAPSE, 2010, 5. Management as control implies a sovereign power, steering and directing the managed along a charted course. As Petter Holm observes, "management is a control strategy by which processes or people are handled indirectly through a system of representation." These representations simplify the world, turning it into a malleable space. Through a wide variety of scientific and technical methods, people and other living species are rendered legible as resources, or "standing reserves" in Martin Heidegger's words, subject to manipulation by managers. Once objectified and quantified, the world becomes an actionable space open to rational control and instrumentalized intervention from a distance.